President Putin is not dictating government’s decisions – Medvedev

According to the Constitution, key strategic decisions, those on foreign policy, war and peace are taken by the president, while the government has quite a lot of its own problems

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MOSCOW, January 28 (Itar-Tass) – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is not dictating decisions to the government, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Germany’s Handelsblatt on Monday.

It is incorrect to believe everything in the newspapers, he said.

“In fact, the situation is very simple, if conspiracy is not involved. It is impossible – I used to be a president – that a president is making all decisions,” Medvedev said.

The prime minister gave an example: “Every day I am signing about 50 documents, and consequences of each document are worth billions. Those are documents of direct application, and they are governmental documents. The president does not sign documents of the kind. The president signs laws.”

“Would you imagine me calling and consulting with somebody about those documents? I sign them and become directly responsible for them.”

At the same time, he stressed that according to the Constitution, key strategic decisions, those on foreign policy, war and peace are taken by the president, while the government has quite a lot of its own problems.

As for cooperation between the president and the prime minister, Medvedev said that he and Vladimir Putin had “normal, ongoing, working, friendly relations.”

“Whenever it is required, we may call each other, or meet,” the prime minister said. “But most often the agendas do not mix, as the president has many functions which he is fulfilling by his own. Those are foreign policies, functions of the Supreme Commander, the Armed Forces, the police, and the security. Those are issues the president is considering by himself.”

However, the two Russian leaders have common problems. For example, fighting the corruption. “In fighting the corruption we have means of law enforcement, or those economic.” Speaking about the police involvement, it is mostly the responsibility of the president, as he supervises the Interior Ministry, though the ministry itself is a part of the government. At the same time, a chain of measures is of an economic character. Medvedev gave an example of the bill on the state contract system, which is being discussed at the State Duma.